How to bet on tennis

Tennis is a popular sport played year-round with tournaments held all over the globe, providing players with more betting opportunities than seasonal sports, like baseball, hockey, and football. The tennis scoring system and match format can seem confusing at times, but don't worry - tennis betting is pretty straightforward

In this how to bet on tennis guide, we'll go over:

✔ Why you should bet on tennis

✔ Tennis betting tips

✔ Top tennis betting events in 2025

✔ Tennis betting markets

The Australian Open is taking place January 6 to 26. Make your pick for 2025’s first Grand Slam with PlayNow.

Bet on the Australian Open

Where to make tennis bets online in Canada

PlayNow Sports is your safe, secure, and regulated betting site for betting on tennis and other sports. Beyond offering competitive odds and promotions, PlayNow is BC’s only legal and regulated online casino and sports betting operator.

PlayNow Sports is Manitoba’s home for safe, secure, and regulated betting on tennis and other sports, offering competitive odds and promotions.

PlayNow Sports is Saskatchewan’s home for safe, secure, and regulated betting on tennis and other sports, offering competitive odds and promotions.

Why you should try tennis betting online in 2025

Tournaments almost every week

Grand slam moments

A variety of tennis betting markets

Tennis betting tips

Know the players and rules: Like betting on any sport, it's integral to understand the scoring format and rules of tennis before making a wager. Make sure you know whether a match is two or three sets, especially when betting in the set handicap market, and familiarize yourself with the top and upcoming players in the sport like Jannik Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Carlos Alcaraz, and Leylah Fernandez.
Do the research: A little research can go a long way. While it's important to remember gambling is still random, you can better guide your bets by looking up the current status of players before their match. Another thing to consider is the head-to-head history between two players. A player could be ranked much higher than their opponent, but the opponent might have a winning record against that player.
Check all conditions before betting: Each sport has certain rules and conditions dictating bet settlements. When a player or doubles team retires or is disqualified from the match, all undecided bets (including those on match winnermarket) are considered void. Bets on decided markets stand and are settled accordingly. Read all sport-specific terms and conditions before placing wagers.

Top tennis betting events for PlayNow

In addition to the four grand slams, the ATP and WTA Tours have several annual events that are more prominent than others. Tournaments are separated into 125, 250, 500, and 1000 levels, with the latter offering more prize money and rankings points for the top tennis players. Here are some of the biggest tournaments for PlayNow betting.

Tournament	Type	Month
Australian Open	Grand slam	January
BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells)	1000 level	March
Miami Open	1000 level	March
French Open	Grand slam	May/June
Wimbledon	Grand slam	June/July
National Bank Open (Toronto/Montreal)	1000 level	July/August
US Open	Grand slam	August
Rolex Shanghai Masters	1000 level	October
ATP/WTA Finals	Season-ending event	November

How to bet on tennis

Tennis betting online at PlayNow is quite simple if you understand the sport and its scoring format. Players can place single bets or parlays in the following markets.

Match winner

The match winner bet is self-explanatory. In this tennis betting market, players simply select who they think is going to win the match.

Reading the odds:

The match winner bet in tennis is the same as a money line bet. There are only two options and, in most cases, players have different odds, with one lower than the other. The player with the lower odds is considered the favorite based on current form (win-loss record and recent results).
The underdog is less likely to win, but has higher odds and a potentially higher payout if they win.
For example, Carlos Alcaraz is a 1.50 favorite against Taylor Fritz, who has 2.35 odds to win the match. To calculate your payout for a successful wager, multiply your stake by the decimal odds for the player you select. A successful $10 bet on Alcaraz, for instance, would return $15, or a $5 profit.

*Player names and odds are for illustration only

Set betting

Set betting in tennis is a particlar bet where you can wager on the player and the set score. In best of three sets, there would generally be four potential outcomes:

Player A wins, 2-0
Player A wins, 2-1
Player B wins, 2-1
Player B wins, 2-0

For example, if you see Leyla Fernandez to win 2-0, this is a bet that she will win both her first and second set.

PlayNow offers several other options for betting at the set level, including individual set winners (first and second for three-set matches) and set handicaps.

Reading the odds on set winner and set handicap:

For a set winner bet, a player just needs to win the specified betting set. This means they could ultimately lose a match 2-1, but as long as they win the set you’ve wagered on they'll cover in this market.
The set winner market odds usually differ from the match winner odds, but only slightly. If a player is favored to win the match, they'll likely have similar odds to win the first or second set.
For the set handicap market, the player on whom you’ve bet needs to cover the spread to settle as a winner. If you’ve backed a player with a -1.5 set handicap, for instance, they’ll need to win 2-0 in a three-set match and either 3-0 or 3-1 in a five-set grand slam match.
The payout calculation is the same for the match winner. A $10 wager on Novak Djokovic (1.80) to win the first set over Stefanos Tsitsipas (2.30), for example, would result in an $18 payout.

*Player names and odds are for illustration only

Games handicap

Like the set handicap, the games handicap betting option levels the playing field between two uneven opponents, although in terms of total games won in a match. It's similar to spread betting for football and basketball.

Reading the games handicap odds:

In the games handicap markets, the favorite is indicated by the minus (-) sign and the underdog by a positive (+) sign. The odds for both players are usually the same or not far apart, i.e. +2.5 (1.93) and -2.5 (1.77).
If you back the favorite to win in this scenario, they would need to win three more games than their opponent for the bet to settle as a win. The underdog would have to lose no more than two games more than their opponent.
A 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 result for the favorite in this case would cover the -2.5 games handicap as they would have won three more games than their opponent.
In some cases, the games handicap might not include a half-point, i.e. 3 or 4. If the match is decided by the exact amount of games indicated in the handicap, it's known as a push and all bets are refunded.

Games total

The games total for tennis betting is an over/under wager, allowing players to select whether or not they think a match will go beyond the total set by the bookmaker.

Reading the total odds:

The games total depends on whether a match is a best-of-three or best-of-five. For best-of-three matches, it is usually anywhere in the range of 19-23. The over and under will likely have similar odds.
A match involving Leylah Fernandez and Coco Gauff, for instance, might have a games total of 21.5. If you take the over, your bet settles as a winner if there are 22 or more games in the match. Conversely, if you wager the under, you'll need the match to be decided in 21 or fewer games to win the bet.
So, if Fernandez wins the match 7-5, 6-4 and you took the over, you would win the bet (7+5+6+4=22).

*Player names and odds are for illustration only

Other ways to bet on tennis

Live betting

Live betting is particularly popular for tennis betting as players can take advantage of momentum swings in games. Odds are constantly changing for all markets to reflect the status of the match, allowing fans to further engage in exciting matches with real time bets on almost every point.

Futures

PlayNow also offers futures bets for grand slams and other major tournaments, including Indian Wells and the Cincinnati Open. Players can place wagers on who they think is going to win these tournaments. Bets are only settled at the conclusion of each event.

Alternative totals

For some matches, PlayNow offers alternative totals for the games handicap and total games. Rather than the standard handicap (i.e. +/- 2.5), players can wager on a +/- 3.5 total, which generally means higher odds for the favorite and lower odds for the underdog.

Odds boosts

An odds boost is a bet with increased odds on specific markets or events. For grand slams and key tournaments PlayNow generally offers daily odds boosts.